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Dead In Their Tracks
China |side2 = Global Liberation Army |goal1 = Destroy the train bridge |goal2 = Defeat the Chinese taskforce |commanders1 = Chinese General |commanders2 = GLA warlord |forces1 = Chinese taskforce: *Black Lotus *Chinese infantry - Red Guards, Tank Hunters and three Hackers *Gatling tanks *Dragon tanks *Battlemaster tanks Chinese base |forces2 = GLA Bishkek garrison consisting of: *Scorpion tanks *Marauder tanks *Radar vans *Stinger sites *Various infantry Reinforcements by train of: *Rebels *RPG troopers *Terrorists s |casual1 = Light |casual2 = Moderate }} Dead in Their Tracks is the penultimate mission in the Chinese campaign of Command & Conquer: Generals. The mission was to eliminate a GLA stronghold in Bishkek that was supplied only by train. Background After the battle at Balyckhy, the GLA were on the run. Using aerial surveillance, the Chinese High Command witnessed the enemy in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan using railways to deploy their troops. Deciding this was too great a threat to ignore, the Chinese High Command ordered Black Lotus to eliminate the railway bridge leading to the city. However, the large numbers of the GLA in the city, combined with the hostility of many citizens in the area itself, forced the PLA presence to keep itself small. It was essentially a commando operation. Key Units/Buildings * Black Lotus * Hacker * Gatling tank Infiltration Ordering his hackers to start gathering funds immediately, the PLA Commander ordered up more troops from the barracks, along with vehicles from the war factory. Due to the nature of the operation, however, the vehicles in question were reduced to the most basic tier: Troop Crawlers, Battlemasters, Gatling and Dragon Tanks. Occupation of the Eastern Train Station Moving across the river using a nearby bridge, the commander discovered an Arms Dealer in the hills, and swiflty eliminated both it and the Stinger Site nearby, including Demo Traps discovered by Black Lotus. Afterwords, PLA forces captured two GLA Supply Stashes in the area up north, using them to gather resources for their own means and enslaving the workers. However, that part of the city was also one of the drop off points for GLA infantry, forcing the commander to garrison buildings near the train station to prevent the terrorists from leaving the station and flanking their base from its undefended side. Battles in the city Meanwhile, other forces moved through the industrial area of the city. While there was no opposition there, they encountered multiple GLA patrols at the city center. Rather than engage them directly, the force tried to divert via the soccer stadium. However Angry Mobs came out from Spartak Stadium, a soccer stadium and began rampaging against the Chinese forces. Using a combination of Gatling Tanks, Dragon Tanks, and Tank Hunters, the mobs were quickly eliminated but had to resort to destroying the stadium to prevent more Angry Mob outbreaks. Unfortunately this attracted the multiple GLA patrols, which broke out into an urban fight. While the Battlemasters engaged the GLA armor, Chinese forces moved farther up and encountered garrisoned GLA forces along with fixed emplacements of defenses and armor, leading to a pitched battle outside the central train station. Many Dragon tanks were destroyed by the RPG troopers as they burned out the garrisoned buildings and Stinger Sites. Destruction of the target By now the GLA had raised the alarm and sent all of their forces to kill the Chinese army. In the confusion, Black Lotus managed to cross the bridge after two Stinger Sites were destroyed and planted the explosives needed to destroy the train bridge. The explosives detonated as a GLA train was en route to the central train station. Once the train was at the middle of the mined bridge, Black Lotus triggered the explosion, destroying the bridge and sent the train plunging into the river below. Strategies *Capture the Arms Dealer near the train depot #1. Be careful with Demo Traps *Put Hackers on safe positions, protect them with Gatling tanks, and order them to steal money *Capture two Supply Stashes after sucking them dry with Black Lotus *Protect Nuclear Reactor at all costs *Garrison several buildings with infantry on the areas where the Angry Mobs will attack *Build a force of Gattling Tanks (to eliminate infantry) and Battlemasters (to destroy structures) *Destroy the stadium before attacking the main depot *Garrison civilian structures near train platform #1 to repulse GLA reinforcements Alternatively, for speedrunners, the following tactic exists: *Build 3 dragon tanks, followed by Black Lotus, carefully sneak along the river through the roundabout patrolled by GLA tanks. If caught, sacrifice the last tank to buy time for the other two. *Burn down 2 garrisoned buildings south of the bridge. Doing this will also trigger the GLA base alarm, causing GLA bridge guards to mobilize and effectively leaving the bridgehead unguarded. *Order Black Lotus to rush to the bridge. Two stinger sites will detect her and open fire, but not likely stop her. Once Black Lotus sets foot on the bridge, mission accomplished. Aftermath The crushing defeat of a major GLA stronghold coupled with the capture of Bishkek signaled that China was on the verge of crushing the GLA's Asian cell. Trivia *Blowing up the bridge is the only occasion in Generals where Black Lotus demonstrates her demolition skills. *Swarming angry mobs seem to be triggered by crossing an invisible "tripwire". In other words, if the player's troops do not cross certain border encircling the main city portion, no mobs will be spawn. *Some game mechanics are customized for this mission only. For example, in order to access to radar mini-map, Chinese commanders normally would have to deploy Radar from their command centers. But in this mission, mini-map is available from the start, even if the player has no Command Center at all. *In another instance, Radar Scan (for GLA radar vans) is purchasable from captured Arms Dealer, while normally it is upgraded through a Black Market. Category:generals 1 Chinese Missions